The year 2015 was the first year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. Only two events were held this year, both consisting of the Rizin World Grand-Prix 2015. Rizin events are broadcast through a television agreement with Fuji Television.
Background On September 19, 2015 during Bellator 142 Dynamite 1 event, it was announced that Pride FC co-founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara had signed former Pride Heavyweight Champion The Last Emperor Fedor Emelianenko to headline his new promotion's New Year's Eve Show in Tokyo.
On October 8, 2015 The former President of Pride FC, Sakakibara held a press conference to announce his return to MMA with Rizin Fighting Federation.
Sakakibara returned to mainstream MMA, along with Nobuhiko Takada and other former Pride FC employees.
Rizin partnered with Bellator MMA to allow former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal to compete the Rizin's inaugural grand prix. Eventually, King Mo won the 8 man under 100 kg tournament with a prize of $300,000.
List of events
# Event Date Venue Location Attendance 1 Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan12,214 2 Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan18,365
100 kg World Grand-Prix bracket
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba was an inaugural mixed martial arts event held by the Rizin Fighting Federation on December 29, 2015 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Results
Fight Card Weight Class Method Round Time NotesWelterweight 77 kg Shinya Aoki def. Kazushi Sakuraba TKO (Corner Stoppage)15:56 Grand-Prix 100 kg Jiří Procházkadef. Satoshi Ishii KO (Knees)11:36 RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals Grand-Prix 100 kg Vadim Nemkov def. Goran ReljićKO (Punches)12:58RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals Grand-Prix 100 kg Teodoras Aukštuolis def. Bruno CappelozzaKO (Punches)14:32RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals Grand-Prix 100 kg Muhammed Lawal def. Brett McDermott KO (Punches)19:10 RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-FinalsGrand-Prix 100 kg Valentin Moldavsky def. Yuta Uchida Submission (Rear Naked Choke)12:20 RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Reserve Fight Featherweight 66 kg Hiroyuki Takaya def. Daiki Hata Decision (Unanimous)320:00 Bantamweight 61 kg Hideo Tokoro def. Kizaemon SaigaSubmission (Armbar) 15:16 Middleweight 84 kg Anatoly Tokovdef. A.J. MatthewsTKO (Punches)10:55 K-1 Lightweight 70 kg Hinata def. Kazuyuki Miyata TKO (3 knockdowns)12:14 K-1 Featherweight 66 kg Hiroya def. Akiyo Nishiura KO (Punches)37:20 Flyweight 57 kg Felipe Efraindef. Yuki MotoyaNo Contest15:45 Originally a 1st-round TKO win by Efrain. Ends in a No Contest, Efrain Missed Weight.Heavyweight 120 kg Kirill Sidelnikov def. Carlos Toyota TKO (Punches)12:23 Heavyweight 120 kg Tsuyoshi Kosaka def. James ThompsonTKO (Punches)211:58
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza was a mixed martial arts event held by the Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2015 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Results
Fight Card Weight Class Method Round Time NotesGrand-Prix 100 kg Muhammed Lawal def. Jiří ProcházkaKO (Punches)15:09RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Final Heavyweight 120 kg Fedor Emelianenko def. Singh Jaideep TKO（Punches）13:02 Featherweight 66 kg Kron Gracie def. Erson YamamotoSubmission (Triangle Choke) 14:58 Catchweight 72.5 kg Andy Souwerdef. Yuichiro NagashimaKO (Punches)15:28 Openweight Baruto Kaitodef. Peter AertsDecision (Unanimous)39:00 Shootboxing 100+ kg Bob Sappdef. Akebono Tarō Decision (Unanimous)315:00 Female Light Heavyweight 93 kg Gabrielle Garciadef. Lei'D TapaTKO (Referee Stoppage) 12:36 K-1 Flyweight 57 kg Takerudef. Yang Ming TKO (Referee Stoppage)26:00 Bantamweight 61 kg Soo Chul Kimdef. Maike LinharesDecision (Unanimous)320:00 Catchweight 81 kg Brennan Ward def. Ken Hasegawa Submission (Rear Naked Choke)211:52 Grand-Prix 100 kg Jiří Procházkadef. Vadim NemkovTKO (Retirement)110:00RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Semi-Finals Grand-Prix 100 kg Muhammed Lawaldef. Teodoras Aukštuolis Decision (Unanimous) 215:00RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Semi-Finals Female Strawweight 52 kg Rena Kubotadef. Jleana ValentinoSubmission (Armbar)28:31
External links http://www.rizinff.com/en/ http://www.tapology.com/search?term=rizin&mainSearchFilter=events